My Experience at AT and T Park

Anyone who has read my bio knows that I’m from one of the best baseball cities in America, Boston. That means I have grown up going to games at Fenway Park, America’s most beloved ballpark. I’ve been to countless Red Sox games, including Derek Lowe’s no-hitter in 2002. I’ve been to the Rogers Centre in Toronto to watch the Sox take on Toronto. As these are absolutely beautiful ballparks, nothing can compare to my trip to San Francisco in August 2011 to see my favorite team the San Francisco Giants play in AT&T Park.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that AT&T Park is the best park in all of baseball. The team, the staff, the food, the view, none of it can be beaten.

I got the experience of going to two games in this beautiful stadium. I got to see it from all angles as I sat on the first base line and upper deck third baseline, perfect view of the McCovey Cove.

What I loved about this park is indescribable but I’ll do my best. First, the food. I’m a very picky eater so all I had was the Giant Dog but boy I must say it was delicious. One of the best hot dogs in all of baseball is the Fenway Frank no doubt, but this definitely ranked right up there with the Frank. From what my aunt tells me everything there is amazing especially the sausage. I also liked how they served the drinks in the souvenir cups. Yes, most stadiums do this but I loved the 2010 World Champions cup they were serving that year.

I also was mesmerized by the view of the Cove from left field. I sat way up, which wasn’t bad because honestly there isn’t a bad seat in that stadium. Looking out to the view of the ocean during the entire game is simply amazing. It was an afternoon game so the light reflecting off the Cove was fantastic. In my opinion it is by far the best view in all of professional sports.

Now as a high school student what I basically look for in a game is for my team to win but everyone, including me, looks for certain features in a ballpark. I personally want a great fan atmosphere, great ballpark features, and a good staff. At AT&T Park, you get all 3 of these.

As far as the fan atmosphere, it can’t be beat. I went the day after the Phillies blew out the Giants and Victorino started a brawl. When his name got introduced, because he was not yet suspended, I’ve never heard louder boos in my life. There didn’t seem to be pink hat in there unlike at Fenway. When I went to Fenway this year they blew a five or six run lead. When Sweet Caroline came on everyone sang. No one cared about the game at all it seemed. When the Giants were losing the entire crowd was unhappy and screaming. That’s the kind of atmosphere I look for, a crowd that really gets into the emotion of the game.

As far as the features and staff go, that’s also fantastic. For the features they have a build-a-mascot where you can build your own Lou Seal. I didn’t try this but from the looks of others it was pretty cool. My favorite feature was inside the Coke bottle in left field. They have 4 slides inside which I thought was a grand time. They also have a little field for children that some Giants players give clinics in. I saw Chris Stewart giving some lessons before one of the games I went to. Now for the staff, the thing I really liked about them is in the upper deck they don’t allow you to go up to your seat to sit down so you don’t distract other fans. I like this because you can still see the game you just have to stand for the rest of that half inning. It’s great they make sure no one’s view get disrupted.

So with everything at this ballpark, I would rate both my experiences a 9/10. Not the extra point strictly because they lost both games, which was a disappointment. If they had pulled out either game I would have no doubt rated it a 10/10.

The Giants players themselves seemed like great guys. Although I didn’t get to meet any of them just watching them they seemed awesome. Before the games they were out signing autographs for the fans, which you would never see at Fenway. I loved seeing the players out there because the fans go out to support them everyday so the least they can do is go out and sign some autographs to show their appreciation.

The games themselves were also great games to go to. On August 2nd I saw the Giants take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. The coolest part about it was I saw The Freak himself, Tim Lincecum. It was a tight game until the eighth. It was 2-1 when the Diamondbacks had 2 in the eighth and 2 in the ninth with no retaliation to win 6-1.

Now personally I enjoyed the second game better. With the view of the Cove I saw Matt Cain take on Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies. It was definitely a pitcher’s duel as Cain allowed two in the first and shut them down the rest of the game. The next run scored was in the bottom of the ninth with two outs when Sandoval went deep. It was cool because the guy behind me was pleading for him to hit a homer. He said, “Please Sandoval go deep. I know [Orlando] Cabrera is gonna do nothing but please just give me a little hope.” Before we could even sit down Cabrera grounded out to end the game on the first pitch and just like that the excitement was over.

This was by far the best experience of my baseball watching life watching my favorite team play at their home stadium. Even though they lost I would watch the exact games over again if I could. It would have been nice to see a win but who knows the next time I’ll go to San Francisco. These two games beat any games I’ve been to in recent memory.

(*The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com*)

Welcome our newest Baseball Intern: Kyle Holland:

Kyle is a life long baseball fan outside of Boston. He is a sophomore in high school has played baseball since he was 5. Although growing up in one of the best baseball towns in the major leagues, he has been a Giants fan since 2009. He credits his aunt with the Giants being his favorite team as she lives in San Francisco. Some of his favorite players include Buster Posey, Stephen Drew, Trevor Bauer, Stephen Strasburg, and minor leaguer Danny Hultzen. You can find Kyle on Twitter (@TheKHolland13).

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Good read. Another thing I love about AT&T Park is ~ they let fans bring their own food into the Park. I’ve been to a lot of ballparks and this is the only park I know of where this happens. It’s especially great for fans with lots of kids because if they had to pay for food along with the high price of tickets most wouldn’t be able to go. And after all shouldn’t it be all about the kids?

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Trip Stats: Miles Driven (0) Miles Air (0) Total Miles (0) In Altuves () $ Spent So Far ($7778) Hot Dogs Eaten (0) Energy Drinks Consumed (0) Subs Eaten (0) Chilli's (0) # Of Days On the Road (0) Games Seen (0) Games Left (219) Days remaining (183).

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